Healing Aids... - Juicing - Your Juicer and You

Juicers range in price from several dollars to well over one thousand dollars. Hand-held orange juice makers are the simplest way to get freshly squeezed citrus juices. Electric juicers, on the other hand, are usually used to juice a variety of fruits and vegetables. Most machines extract the juice from the whole fruit/vegetable using either a direct separation process or indirectly through centrifugal force and discard most of the pulp and fibre. Juicers with a spinning basket are generally not recommended as they may leave too many nutrients behind in the pulp. Direct separation provides a higher quality juice.

Your juicer should be properly cleaned and maintained to receive the best quality juice. More expensive models reduce the amount of heat and friction created during the juicing process, which can break down beneficial enzymes and other nutrients in the juice.

Leftover pulp can be frozen in ice cube trays (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are ideal) or added to your composter. The pulp will quickly break down in your composter as juicing has made it easier for the microorganisms and other composter critters to turn the material into rich soil.